Strange Sleeping Arrangements
by Porky Poo
Summary: Ludwig has always had a rather interesting sleeping arrangement. The problem is that he doesn't know why. Will delving into his past help him understand his present?
1. Chibi Germany and Big Brother Prussia

**A\N: **This is my first Hetalia story, I own nothing.

I use the human names of the countries if you are unfamiliar with them here are the ones that I use:

Ludwig Beilschmidt = Germany

Feliciano Vargas = Italy

Gilbert Beilschmidt = Prussia

Francis Bonnefoy = France

Lovino Vargas = Romano

Alfred F. Jones = America

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><p>Ludwig looked down at the large double bed, he didn't know why he had it. Not many people he knew had such large beds. The Vargas brothers he knew both had double beds so that when the other visited they could share (which wasn't always the best idea). The only other people whom he knew that owned larger beds where Francis and Alfred. Francis had a queen sized bed (because as everyone knows he is the queen). And Alfred, who claimed that as a hero he needed an extra big bed, had a king sized bed (And everyone knows that everything in America is about two sizes to big).<p>

But Ludwig knew that he didn't need a double bed. He only ever slept on one side. He had often thought of switching beds before, but he had always held onto it like some sort of memory. And of course it was connected to a memory, a very old memory. A memory that Ludwig loved, back when everything was good and he didn't have a terrible boss. Back when he was little.

Staring at the bed now the memory came back again filling his mind and pulling him back into the past.

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><p>The door creaked open gently. Ludwig stuck his head in and looked across at the double bed and to where his brother was sound asleep. Gilbert was stretched out on his back with his arms thrown out wide across the bed. He was snoring lightly, but as Ludwig made his way gently into the room Gilbert's snoring stopped for a moment as he rolled onto his side in his sleep. As he settled into this new position that snoring resumed louder than before.<p>

Ludwig had had a nightmare again tonight, but he always felt safer when he was with his brother. And so tonight, like many nights before, he slipped into his brother's large bed. He curled up on the very edge, so as to give his brothers strange sleeping positions room, and settled in to sleep.

"Ich liebe dich," Ludwig whispered. He only ever said this to his brother when he was sleeping because he knew that although Gilbert knew that he loved him he didn't respond well when it was voiced to him (Mostly his reactions just consisted of him yelling about how awesome he was and that no one could help but love him. And Ludwig just didn't want to deal with any of that). And so tonight when he thought that his big brother was asleep he said the words that he wouldn't ever have said if thought Gilbert was awake. However, Ludwig was so tired that he fell asleep in a matter of moments and missed what his brother had to say back to him.

Gilbert had woken up when he had heard his bedroom door open. He knew that his brother never liked to wake him up after he had had a nightmare and so he respected his manliness and pretended to be asleep when Ludwig came in. However, he heard the words that Ludwig would rather he had not, and the smile that spread across his face was the biggest he had ever had. He loved his little brother more than anyone else (And perhaps he wouldn't admit it, but sometimes he thought that he loved his brother more than himself).

"Ich liebe dich auch, kleiner Bruder," He whispered back, but Ludwig never heard him.

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><p><strong>A\N:<strong> Translation of what Gilbert says to Ludwig is: "I love you too, little brother." In case you were wondering

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	2. Big Brother Germany

The bedroom door creaked open, a small sliver of light came in and fell across the bed and the apparent sleeping figure of Ludwig. However, Ludwig was not fully asleep but was simply lying quietly and unmoving, because if the figure now creeping across the room found out that he was awake he would have no rest at all that night. And so Ludwig remained perfect still, waiting for sleep to claim him and for Feliciano Vargas to settle into the bed.

Of course it was Feliciano, Ludwig didn't even have to look to know that it was the Italian, the smell of pasta and tomatoes that followed him into the room where enough (When first getting to know the Vargas brothers Ludwig was surprised to find out that they always smelled of a combination of cooking pasta and tomatoes). Vargas made his way across the room in a strange half run half tiptoe, which made him look like a deformed monkey (Which sadly to say he looked like this on most days). Right before it looked like he was about to dive bomb onto the bed he slowed himself down considerably making it possible to climb gingerly into bed. Feliciano was so light and skinny that he was able to slip under the covers without moving the mattress at all.

"So that's how he does it," Ludwig thought to himself as Feliciano made himself comfortable. There were many mornings when Ludwig would wake up and notice that at some point Feliciano had crept into his bed during the night. Until now Ludwig had never seen him do it and never knew exactly how he managed it without waking Ludwig up. Now he realized that he managed it simply by the fact that he was so skinny and barely weighed anything.

Ludwig normally would have kicked Vargas from the bed, but he wasn't disturbing anything and he might as well let the boy get his sleep, he would kick him out in the morning (Roughly and with much shouting). And so Ludwig tried to find the sleep that he had been looking for. But before he could let the realm of sleep claim him he heard it. It was gentle and soft, but it was the same almost asleep voice that he had used to speak to his brother all those years ago when his brother could not hear.

"Ti amo," the last sleepy words of a very tired Italian.

And in that moment Ludwig knew why he still had that big bed. It was the same reason that Gilbert had held on to his overly large bed all those years. He knew that he didn't need that bed, Gilbert hadn't needed his either, but need had nothing to do with it. Being a big brother was more than just need. All the brothers that Ludwig knew had bigger beds so that they could share (Except for Francis, he wasn't a brother he just liked big beds).

Ludwig waited a moment just to make sure that Feliciano was asleep, it wouldn't do for him to hear what Ludwig was about to say. No one ever needed to know what was said in response, but just the fact that it was said was enough. In just barely over a whisper Ludwig relied to Feliciano,

"Ich liebe dich auch, kleiner Bruder."

Ende

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><p><strong>A\N:<strong> Thank you for reading! I hoped you enjoyed it. Please leave a review to let me know what you thought.


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